Chapter 791: The Seventh Layer’s Lightning Tribulation and Heart Tribulation
According to the Compendium of Cultivation, when the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation broke through to the seventh layer, there would be a lightning tribulation and a heart tribulation.
Xiao Chen was filled with anticipation and nervousness. The records in the Compendium of Cultivation indicated that if one failed to clear the tribulations, doom would be imminent.
There was no perfect cultivation technique in the word. Paying such a large price was normal since the Purple Thunder Divine Incantation could cultivate Quintessence and Mental Energy simultaneously. Furthermore, its effects surpassed those of Heaven Ranked Cultivation Techniques.
When breaking to the seventh layer, the tribulations would come. Xiao Chen was not very confident of success. Clearing both the lightning tribulation and heart tribulation would not be easy.
Xiao Chen took in another deep breath of the incense and abandoned these distracting thoughts. Then he sat cross-legged on the prayer mat and entered into a state of cultivation.
He lost all sense of time while cultivating and slowly opened his eyes again only three days later, when the Deep Sea Coumarin Grass ran out.
Xiao Chen had previously underestimated his distance from the sixth layer’s bottleneck. After absorbing the Spiritual Energy of ten Rank 2 Spirit Veins continuously, there was still no sign of the bottleneck.
For some reason, he felt relief instead.
However, Xiao Chen immediately realized that although his state of mind was calm, in reality, he had a bone-deep fear of the seventh layer’s lightning tribulation and heart tribulation.
If he could not pass these tribulations, he would die and turn to dust, disappearing from the world. All his hopes, glory, and dreams would vanish like smoke.
Xiao Chen could not help but smile mockingly. He raised up his right hand and clenched his fist tightly. He felt the surging power in his body and muttered, “Death…it seems like the higher the cultivation realm and the stronger one is, the more one fears death. One can no longer be as indifferent as before.”
Was this the result of obtaining so much, thus one feared to lose them all?
A beggar and a wealthy man. Out of the two, it was definitely the latter that feared death more.
In the end, Xiao Chen was just human. He might understand these principles, but he could not truly implement it.
For now, there was no good method to deal with his unbeneficial mindset. The more Xiao Chen dwelled on it, the deeper this problem would become. He shook his head and stopped thinking. Then, he stood up and walked over to the combat room.
After preparing enough Spirit Gathering Pearls, Xiao Chen activated a bladesman-style combat puppet with the strength of an Inferior Grade Martial Sage to spar with.
The human-shaped combat puppet had everything an Inferior Grade Martial Sage should have—Heavenly Sage Laws, Heaven Ranked Martial Techniques, Movement Techniques, and even aura.
The combat puppet even had some intelligence. Because it could not felt pain, Xiao Chen found it more difficult to deal with than actual Inferior Grade Martial Sages.
Six hours later, Xiao Chen ran out of Quintessence. So he left the combat room and took out the Holy Spring Spiritual Milk and drank a drop. His Quintessence immediately recovered to peak state, and he charged back into the combat room.
By the time Xiao Chen could easily deal with five Inferior Grade Martial Sage combat puppets, he had finished all the Holy Spring Spiritual Milk.
After fighting continuously for three days, he had gained many comprehensions about Saber Techniques. Then he spent one day to digest these comprehensions.
The results of seven days of training and cultivation in the Heaven Series training room were equal to half a year of doing so outside. Furthermore, such ideal conditions were not possible outside.
“Indeed, the Heaven Series training room has many benefits. If only I could stay here and cultivate for half a year. I wonder if that could get me to peak half-Sage,” Xiao Chen mumbled somewhat greedily. One month was simply too short.
“Senior Brother Xiao Chen!”
A distant shout came from outside the training room. Xiao Chen raised his eyebrows, and a few flashes after leaving the combat room, he arrived outside.
He discovered that the person who called out to him was Zhong Yi, whom he had met once. He was not used to Zhong Yi calling him Senior Brother!
Zhong Yi smiled and said, “I wonder if I interrupted Senior Brother Xiao Chen’s cultivation. If so, Zhong Yi apologizes.”
Xiao Chen smiled calmly and said, “Brother Zhong, there is no need to be so polite. Just call me Xiao Chen. I just used up my Holy Spring Spiritual Milk and Deep Sea Coumarin Grass and was about to go and retrieve some more. If there is anything, you can simply speak your mind.”
When Zhong Yi saw Xiao Chen being so humble, not putting on airs at all, he felt relief in his heart. He smiled and said, “I shall not stand on ceremony, then. The Palace Master is preparing to bring people to Black Water Star. He instructed me to ask if you have any interest in joining.”
Xiao Chen felt excited, suddenly remembering that this was no longer the Kunlun Continent but the starry heavens.
“Gladly.”
Xiao Chen had been wanting to find a chance to experience this place for himself. Naturally, he would not let this opportunity go.
Although, it would be unfortunate to waste the time he had allocated for the Heaven Series training room.
Xiao Chen’s straightforward reply surprised Zhong Yi. After all, with the benefits of the Heaven Series training room, anyone who had the opportunity to use it would not bear to leave it.
Xiao Chen smiled faintly and said, “Brother Zhong, I wonder if you can tell me more about the starry heavens. I have been feeling curious about it.”
When Zhong Yi heard that, he humbly said, “Before one is a Superior Grade Martial Sage, there would be no way to survive in the starry heavens. Even Superior Grade Martial Sages can barely do it.
“You have to be at least a grandmaster-level Martial Sage to explore the starry heavens alone. However, even that level would not be sufficient for long-term solo travel. For one to truly explore the starry heavens and adventure on their own, one has to be a quasi-Emperor.
“So, I don’t really know much myself. Brother Xiao Chen, if you have any questions, just ask. I will answer to the best of my abilities.”
Xiao Chen thought for a while and asked his first question: “How far is the star we are on from the Kunlun Continent?”
“This is something I know.” Zhong Yi smiled. “The Supreme Sky Star we are standing on is actually not far from the Kunlun Continent. After breaking through the barrier of the sky, you just need to travel for five thousand kilometers.
“Most of the bases established in the starry heavens are all similar. If they are too far, even a Martial Emperor would not be able to guarantee the safety.”
Five thousand kilometers might seem far. However, when considering the boundless starry heavens, it was indeed considered near.
However, breaking through the barrier of the sky was quite difficult. Without being a grandmaster-level Martial Sage, one would not even be able to shake it.
A Martial Emperor of the Supreme Sky Sect must have put in a lot of effort to open a space-time tunnel to this star after many attempts.
Otherwise, with just the strength of the many Martial Sages on this star, there would be no way for them to tear through the barrier of the sky and arrive here.
After a session of question and answer, Xiao Chen obtained plenty of information that he had not known before. For example, the barrier of the sky that covered the entire Kunlun Continent existed only above the Kunlun Continent.
None of the other stars had such a strong barrier.
Furthermore, this barrier had strong defensive capabilities against Astral Beasts. Even the Martial-Emperor-level Astral Beasts could not break the barrier of the sky.
It was because of this barrier that the Kunlun Continent was free of invasions by Astral Beasts, which would have been even graver disasters than a Demonic Calamity.
However, there were several profound things that Zhong Yi did not know much about; the disciples of the Heavenly Battle Palace did not get many chances to leave the Supreme Sky Star.
Furthermore, every time they got to leave it, there would be grandmaster-level Martial Sages guarding them; they could not act on their own.
As the two chatted, they arrived at the assembly point. Several previous true inheritors had already arrived at the Heavenly Battle Palace’s drill ground. Aside from the disciples at critical junctures of their cultivation or disciples who were away, all of them were present.
After all, this was an opportunity to explore another star. If they were lucky, they might be able to find great opportunities.
There might be sect remnants of the Immortal Epoch, cave residences of mysterious strong people, rare and precious ores, or miraculous objects. Of course, the chances of finding such things were minuscule, but there was just a small shred of possibility.
If there were any great opportunities, these would have already been found by the grandmaster-level Martial Sages and the quasi-Emperors that had gone before them. They would only be able to pick up the scraps leftover.
The moment Xiao Chen appeared on the drill ground, he immediately felt several gazes on him. This was especially so for the attention of Cui Hao, who was extremely surprised.
“This fellow actually gave up cultivating in the Heaven Series training room to join the excitement?”
The others might not truly understand the benefits of the Heaven Series training room, but Cui Hao, who spent a lot of time in there, clearly knew all the benefits.
When the two Vice Palace Masters saw Xiao Chen, they nodded in approval to themselves. Then, they started their briefing on the things to pay attention to on this expedition.
“This time, we are going to Black Water Star. It is different from the other stars we have been to before. The Vice Sect Master has exterminated all the Astral Beasts above Rank 4. However, there are still the Rank 4 Astral Beasts and below, so do not go too far away from us.
“The main objective of this expedition is to subdue the few Rank 3 Spirit Veins of Black Water Star. At the same time, it is to let you all experience fighting some of the weaker Astral Beasts.
“Of course, if you obtain anything during this experiential training, it would be your personal possession. The sect will not collect it from you.”
The two Superior Grade Martial Sage Vice Palace Masters took turns giving instructions.
This was the first time Xiao Chen was going on such a space exploration, so he listened very carefully, not missing a single word spoken.
Suddenly, a burst of urgent howling came from above everyone. Something cast a vast shadow on the ground. When Xiao Chen looked up, he saw a King Grade warship.
Knowing it was time to depart, the two Vice Palace Masters summoned someone to hand out purple jade pendants with the words “Supreme Sky” on them to all the disciples embarking on this expedition.
Xiao Chen asked Zhong Yi, who was beside him, about the pendant and found out more about its functions.
The King Grade warships all had their own defensive barriers. One could smoothly pass through this barrier only if they had this jade pendant.
The jade pendants were of two types: parent and child. The jade pendants the disciples held were child pendants. The Palace Master and the Vice Palace Masters could locate all the disciples with child pendants through their parent pendants.
If a disciple ran into unexpected danger, they could use the child pendant to seek help from someone who held a parent pendant.
At the same time, the jade pendant also had a star map of the vicinity. The simple markings on it were the stars of the other Kunlun Realm factions near the Supreme Sky Star.
If one got lost, they could land on a star belonging to a nearby Kunlun Realm faction. Ending up on a desolate, uninhabited star almost guaranteed death.
Of course, it would be best to seek a star under the control of a Tianwu Domain faction or the Martial God Palace. If one went to the star of another race, it might be even more dangerous.